Foreign Policy Experience? I'm Not Buying It
Earlier this week, I had lunch with a friend who was a staffer in the Nixon White House (though much more Reaganite in his policy predelictions). He was lamenting the lack of focus on foreign policy in the midterm elections, and the relative dearth of interest in the subject among the potential 2012 presidential candidates.
Right on cue, RealClearPolitics is carrying a piece this morning on the mandatory pilgrimages of would-be Commanders-in-Chief to distant lands in an attempt to burnish their foreign policy credentials. Among the bona fides you’ll find cited in the piece is that John Thune has been to Liechtenstein (I’m not making this up). That’s an extreme example of why I think these trips are nonsense.
Does anyone really believe that 48 hours in Israel is going to change a candidate’s fitness for judging strategic options in the Middle East? I certainly don’t and it gets to a broader complaint about how we judge “foreign policy experience” in our potential presidents.
Barack Obama famously made the case that good judgment is more important than experience for a White House inhabitant. I think he’s right, with two provisos: (1) Pre-existing good judgment is often refined by experience and (2) Obama himself has demonstrated neither trait. But one need look no further than Joe Biden, a 35 year veteran of the Senate and former chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee who was on the wrong side of virtually every major foreign policy debate of his era, to realize that experience does not equal insight.
I’d rather have a presidential candidate who says something shrewd about China from behind a podium in Omaha than one who trots out clichés on a visit to Beijing. If these candidates are serious about governing, they should start cracking the books of folks like Robert Kagan and our own Victor Davis Hanson rather than staging photo-ops abroad.
What do Ricochet readers think? Do these trips serve a broader purpose? Or are they just another exercise in campaign kabuki? And if you could eliminate one pointless ritual of presidential elections, which one would it be?
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Aug '10
Re: Foreign Policy Experience? I'm Not Buying It
Do they serve a purpose? Yes. They serve the purpose of being an exercise in campaign kabuki.
They say nothing substantive about the candidate, but if candidate doesn't go through the process then he/she is putting himself at a disadvantage compared to an opponent who has gone through the process.
If you could eliminate one pointless ritual of presidential elections, which one would it be?
Lawn signs. Once again, they say nothing substantive about a candidate, but if you have significantly fewer out there than your opponent it puts you at a disadvantage.
Jul '10
Re: Foreign Policy Experience? I'm Not Buying It
Reagan didn't have much "hands on" foreign policy experience, yet he did alright. So, yeah, these trips are marketing ploys. They provide photo-ops for the campaign commercials, but I don't think the electorate pays much attention ("Marge, who's that dumpy-looking lady that John's shakin' hands with?").
I guess the one pointless ritual I'd eliminate would be appearing on a late night talk show to exhibit how "hip" and "with it" you are with the young folks. Please. You want to impress the younger generation? Tell them how you're going to keep them from having to support one half of a retiree each.
May '10
Re: Foreign Policy Experience? I'm Not Buying It
The trips are generally worthless. Judgment, a good reading list, and well-selected advisers are vastly more important. To be sure, there are important foreign policy issues that arise and must be dealt with, but foreign policy is often a refuge for Presidents who can get the job done domestically, or who are just bored with the tedium of governing.
May '10
Re: Foreign Policy Experience? I'm Not Buying It
I slightly disagree. I grew up poor, married young, and never traveled out of the continental US until my late thirties. Since then I have found that real, not kabuki, travel, where there are no media, you just walk around and experience the places, is very useful to providing context for decisions.
Not irreplaceable- but very useful. Thune's trip is worthless by definition, as are most others taken by politicians.
May '10
Re: Foreign Policy Experience? I'm Not Buying It
What kills me is that the President's meetings with cronies and people of little relevance to policy are far longer than his meetings with foreign leaders. I'll never understand how a foreign leader can visit America and receive less than half-an-hour of face time with the President.
Jul '10
Re: Foreign Policy Experience? I'm Not Buying It
Tripedis' idea of the late show appearance is a good one, but I would suggest staying out of cafes and fast foods. They look ridiculous in there wearing suits, for one.....
Nov '10
Re: Foreign Policy Experience? I'm Not Buying It
I would stop using news anchors as debate moderators. They tend to be a) not particularly clever or informed, and b) more interested in keeping the president-to-be happy so that he'll grant an exclusive interview post-election.
Instead I would use two academics with nothing to lose, one openly liberal, one openly conservative, and have them pose questions to their opposing candidates. That way, if a candidate evades (as they inevitably do these days), the moderator can just come out and say something along the lines of "you didn't answer the question because you believe Americans are stupid and wouldn't notice." Finally, an honest debate.
Re: Foreign Policy Experience? I'm Not Buying It
Jan-Michael Rives: I would stop using news anchors as debate moderators. They tend to be a) not particularly clever or informed, and b) more interested in keeping the president-to-be happy so that he'll grant an exclusive interview post-election.
Instead I would use two academics with nothing to lose, one openly liberal, one openly conservative, and have them pose questions to their opposing candidates. That way, if a candidate evades (as they inevitably do these days), the moderator can just come out and say something along the lines of "you didn't answer the question because you believe Americans are stupid and wouldn't notice." Finally, an honest debate. · Dec 8 at 12:50pm
I like your idea. I think Peter Robinson, being an experienced interviewer, would be the perfect candidate for moderator.
Dec '10
Re: Foreign Policy Experience? I'm Not Buying It
Televised debates in general are worse than useless as they're now constituted. I recall in the Biden-Palin debate that Biden was allowed to state that "we and the French drove Hezbollah out of Lebanon" and no one nailed him on it. I'd at least equip the debates with panels of fact checkers like the judges on Jeopardy! to point out errors in fact as they happen.
Foreign travel is swell, provided that the travel entails something other than a photo op with a foreign leader and a State dinner or trip to a tourist attraction. One useful aspect of candidate trips to Israel is that they literally can see for themselves the strategic challenge Israel faces in terms of geography and topography; however, we can see that Obama's trip in his campaign didn't impress on him the full import of Israel's situation. And America's President has to run a foreign policy that by definition encompasses a whole lot of places that he or she has never seen and may never have heard of, any of which could become a hot spot instantly.
Aug '10
Re: Foreign Policy Experience? I'm Not Buying It
Considering that a potential nominee is conducting a campaign by hunting, skinning, and cooking her way across the frontier , I would say that credentialed resume punching might be changing right before our eyes.
Compare these approaches
(1) Yes, thank you mayor I would be very interested in watching the local women prepare the roast swallowtails ! Thank you so much.
(2) Bam ! Wow, good shot.
Which one has more appeal ?
Let's go to the moderator..............
Nov '10
Re: Foreign Policy Experience? I'm Not Buying It
I like your idea. As far as liberals go, Jake Tapper of has been known to sass people who duck questions.
Nov '10
Re: Foreign Policy Experience? I'm Not Buying It
Yes, Kagan and Hanson are must-read material for would-be Commanders in Chief... as are Francis Fukuyama, Samuel Huntington, Edward Luttwack, Margaret MacMillan, Churchill, Thucydides, Plutarch, Machievelli, Burke, etc. etc.
Here's a question: Who thinks our current Commander in Chief has ever read Edmund Burke? (Yet Valerie Jarrett says he's never been intellectually challenged... please.)
Oct '10
Re: Foreign Policy Experience? I'm Not Buying It
Jan-Michael Rives
I like your idea. As far as liberals go, Jake Tapper of has been known to sass people who duck questions. · Dec 8 at 1:15pm
I suspect the liberals would be rather up in arms about Jake Tapper as their guy. I doubt they'd even accept George Stephanapolous. Besides, your proposal was to use academics. I think your idea is brilliant, but would never be accepted by the media or by liberals generally. If there are two things important to liberals, it is maintaining the narrative that conservatives are stupid and cultivating celebrity. A conservative academic would wipe the floor with their political heroes and a liberal academic would lack star power. Neither is acceptable.
As for foreign policy credentials, overseas photo-ops are worse than a waste of time. They allow these cretins to believe that they've actually learned something. Their supporters believe it too. How else to explain Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State? I'd be a better choice.
Feb '10
Re: Foreign Policy Experience? I'm Not Buying It
I'd definitely want to see international experience on the resume of any presidential candidate, preferably doing something real like actually living, studying, volunteering, serving in the military, or doing business abroad for a significant period (at least a few months).
In fact, I'd recommend it for any American who can do it. We are still a leader in the world in many ways, and regardless, we are affected by world events. As such, we should understand the world we live in as well as we can.
Oct '10
Re: Foreign Policy Experience? I'm Not Buying It
Jul '10
Re: Foreign Policy Experience? I'm Not Buying It
I went to Disneyland once.
If Mickey and Goofy acquire nuclear weapons, I'm ready to negotiate.
Dec '10
Re: Foreign Policy Experience? I'm Not Buying It
flownover: Considering that a potential nominee is conducting a campaign by hunting, skinning, and cooking her way across the frontier , I would say that credentialed resume punching might be changing right before our eyes.
Compare these approaches
(1) Yes, thank you mayor I would be very interested in watching the local women prepare the roast swallowtails ! Thank you so much.
(2) Bam ! Wow, good shot.
Which one has more appeal ?
Let's go to the moderator.............. · Dec 8 at 1:14pm
What about the idea of visiting all 50 states (is that the right number, Mr. President?) and all the US territories and possessions before or while running for President? One could argue that whatever the merits of foreign "fact-finding," one ought to at least have some contact with all the parts of the US itself before becoming President of the US. Of course, we've had plenty of Presidents who hadn't made it to the (then-)entire complement of states, territories and possessions prior to taking office.
May '10
Re: Foreign Policy Experience? I'm Not Buying It
The need for genuine foreign policy experience is, perhaps, the reason why so many of our earlier presidents were diplomats beforehand. John Adams served as ambassador to the UK and the Netherlands; William Henry Harrison served as ambassador to Colombia; William Howard Taft governed Cuba and the Philippines; Thomas Jefferson served as ambassador to France and as secretary of state, as did James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Martin van Buren, and James Buchanan.
Dec '10
Re: Foreign Policy Experience? I'm Not Buying It
Too bad that ambassadorships these days are so often handed out as rewards to political donors as opposed to assigned to up and coming figures as preparation for further public service (not to mention people who have the temperament and skill to be, you know, good diplomats).
Oct '10
Re: Foreign Policy Experience? I'm Not Buying It
Troy Senik:
What do Ricochet readers think? Do these trips serve a broader purpose? Or are they just another exercise in campaign kabuki? And if you could eliminate one pointless ritual of presidential elections, which one would it be? ·
It depends on who we're talking about. You can send some vapid dingbat of a politician to somewhere like China even for a very long time and they're not going to learn anything. We don't necessarily have the best and brightest in the political class. Biden is a good enough example as any. He's been exposed to volumes of information about foreign affairs and hasn't learned a thing.
However, it's a fine idea to send someone sharp and inquisitive about the world to Israel or Liechtenstein as preparation for the White House or any federal position with foreign policy implications.
I'd eliminate the debate commission kabuki dance from the presidential election cycles. They tend to structure the debates in ways to minimize their value to the voters and the moderators are almost always wretched. Let the candidates figure out when and how to debate and who will moderate.